Judge urged to approve Chinese drywall settlements

Judge urged to approve Chinese drywall settlements

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Attorneys for thousands of Gulf Coast property owners have urged a federal judge to give his final approval to a proposed class-action settlement that calls for a Chinese drywall manufacturer to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to repair homes damaged by their product.

U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon in New Orleans held a hearing Tuesday to help him judge the fairness of five separate but related settlement agreements between plaintiffs’ lawyers and companies that made, supplied or installed Chinese drywall.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Arnold Levin said the settlements are worth an estimated $1.1 billion. Most of that would be paid by Chinese drywall manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co.